I dont think CP wanted to play long ball- he and Matthews were animated at times screaming for them to calm down and making circle gestures which is a reference to possession and using space. Sadly they continued playing balls from deep.
Blimey if we try and sign a keeper from Newcastle then we deffo aint going anywhere ! We also learnt that Euell is not up to it I'm afraid.
That's the third time I've been confused by the 'obligatory Euell substitution'. Fair enough, I understand Hayes off, but not sure how Euell improves attacking, possession, or defensive options. Pritchard for Hayes would've made more sense for me, but there you go. Powell's predecessor was criticised for being too cautious with subs. Pretty sure CP is even more cautious. Still and all, as said on the other thread, 6 down, 40 to go. If a draw at home to Wednesday is our worst result of the season, then we'll go up with a record points tally.
Key thing learned from last night: Long throws, and I use that in the loosest term, don't work against a team that are man for man bigger than us... this was obvious after about 2 of them, so why not try a short throw and playing our way to the box against a technically inferior team. Can't argue with a lot of what was said on here, I was a critic of Solly and now I'm fully converted, he was fantastic right the way through. Don't think radical change is required, but Stephens was totally absent which killed our creativity, Waggy did nothing 2nd half and seemed curiously not up for it, Hayes had his worst game for us, or at least Jones kept him quiet all game. Other thing learned: Wednesday are a professionally very cynical side... how Prutton stayed on the pitch I have no clue. Another thing: Megson's an idiot, but to be fair he's brave enough to admit he's an idiot after 20 minutes. Another thing: I really hate Clinton Morrison Another thing: the only undroppable player in our team, despite good starts, is BWP... he was class, but more importantly he's just such a threat. Finally, agree that Powell didn't want the long ball, he seemed hugely frustrated with the lack of passing, but they need to maintain their game if they get bullied like last night, just a harsh lesson learned, I fear.
Couldn't have put it better myself. Benson is much under rated in my opinion & with decent supply will get the goals at this level, CP must think so to or he would had sold him when he had the chance. Pritchard deserves a chance & if Green is fit on Saturday, afraid Waggy you may have to get used to the bench until CP changes the system you get a chance in the middle behind BWP
Fans that moan and groan get the criticism. Last night, the performance, tactics, players (except a couple), Powell and the long-throws deserved criticism. Should everyone just agree with each other on everything? Should the critics just settle for second best when they know full well that the team could have done so much better? I would rather be 'fickle' and have an opinion than just view it all through rose-tinted glasses. It is that eternally optimistic view that leads to dead-beats such as Benson and Parky being retained for so long - despite the fact that they are utter rubbish.
No - I do. Excellent signing IMO. However, there was no way he was going to influence the game on Monday, not from the position we were in, or the tactics we were employing.
Very good article by the Kish http://www.doctorkish.com/cgi-bin/clinic/display.pl?month=201109&date=20110907&time=1035 The same as our 'The artist formerly known as .....' ?
Hamer - worried me a lot, dropped a couple of balls right at the feet of Wednesday strikers. Solly - can't fault him, he has pace, strength, a great cross and oddly, he's decent enough at heading considering his height. Taylor - always seems quite anonymous, few decent clearances but ruined our game of pin-ball in the opposition box by blasting his shot wide. Morrison - my preferred CB of the two, sadly he tries using his left foot too much and isn't great with it, cue a few misses of the ball and misplaced passes. Wiggins - fairly decent going forward but has an appalling first touch (gave the ball away on a number of occasions both with his head and his feet). Always kicks the ball into the stands when under very little pressure. Wagstaff - As much as I am a fan of Waggy, am I the only one who thinks he's got worse as he's got older? He used to be lightning fast and enjoyed taking on the full back, on Monday he was outpaced frequently by the opposition full backs (and centre-backs) and he NEVER EVER goes past the full back. Also his crossing is poor. Stephens - was under a fair bit of pressure before hoofing that shot over the bar, but to be honest as a professional footballer he should have still put it away. Other than that he had a good game, and has been a decent player for us this season, far more effective than Racon was last season anyway. Hollands - I very much like the way he plays, he has all the defensive qualities of Semedo, yet he's effective going forward as well as having a decent pass, his left footedness puts the icing on the cake for me, providing a natural balance in the midfield. Only his 'long throws' on Monday were a bit questionable (considering the only tall players we had on the pitch were back in our own box). Jackson - Despite my calls pre-season for us to bring in a pacey Left-Mid and drop JJ to the bench, I've grown into accepting him as our captain, as well as being fairly happy that he is first choice LM. Hasn't got much pace and seems a bit anonymous most of the time (perhaps too quiet to be captain) but his crossing has improved and he still seems to have that clinical goalscoring touch. Hayes - Not the most exciting player on the pitch but he plays with BWP well and holds the ball up well despite not really being a target man. Decent game on Monday. BWP - His lethal goalscoring touch is still there, whilst he has also improved over the summer, being more of a threat whilst on the ball, dropping back deep to help defend and also, being useful outside of the box (gotta be his first goal outside the box for us on Monday surely?) Another nag here about the reduction of subs from 7 to 5. Playing the style of football (basically hoof-ball) that we did towards the end of the game on Monday, we could have benefited from having both Benson and Euell on the bench as 2 of our 7 subs. That way if the going gets tough (as it did) we could bring on Benson (who despite being pretty rubbish in the air, is still slightly better than Euell using that tactical style). Or else, if we're still playing it along the floor, like a red-and-white Brazil, we could bring on Euell for Hayes.
Powell doesn't seem to be learning with his substitutions at all, in the main he mostly makes like for like changes. The only times I can remember him doing more than this is when he has brought on the Doc in the hope of seeing out a game, which has had mixed results. Maybe he should have considered appointing a more experienced number 2.
